These 27 power cords should cover the majority of possible “flavors” when it comes to power cords. So, whether you plan to mix n’ match or stick to a single loom – I hope the survey will serve as guidance.

Expensive doesn’t always mean better – just different. The question is always how much you’re willing to pay for that difference. This seems to be especially the case over $2,000 – where signatures get pretty unique.

One thing should be clear, you could get a lot – without spending a lot. The Atlas Eos 4dd and Vovox Textura are great examples of this.

For the curious, I’m still experimenting with a combination of Furutech DPS-4, Snake River Audio Cottonmouth Signature, High Fidelity Cables CT-1 Ultimate, and the Audience Au24 SX power cables. These cables seem to get me closer to a balance I’m looking for – which is a natural sound.

The Greatest Lesson

The biggest takeaway with this review was to actually spend time with the cable – at least a few days. When you binge on power cables, the “context switching” may affect your impressions. You’ll actually get further, quicker if you resist the urge of constantly swapping in and out cables.

So, instead of going through many cables in one sitting, listen to that cable over a longer period – with a variety of music. You’ll start to get a better grip of its strength and weakness. Sometimes “it grows on you” and sometimes it gets worse. Remember, it’s about how your HiFi system makes you feel. And with this knowledge, you’ll be able to accept or reject a power cable more confidently.

Power Cable Findings

These were a few interesting discoveries made during this journey. I’d be interested to hear if anyone else has experienced anything similar (or different).

The majority of the power cables were tuned more neutrally. Meaning an “even” amount of tonal color or energy across the spectrum. Nothing too warm, too bright, too energetic.

The stereo seems to take the character of the power cord used at the amplifier the most. The exception seems to be a few digital sources – such as the Chord Electronics DAVE.

Pure digital sources (no analog inputs or outputs) with linear power supplies don’t seem to react as heavily with the power cords. The Innuos ZENith Mk.3 SE and Mutec REF10 being a couple of examples.

The power cable at the mains seems to set the tone (no pun intended) and noise level of the system. If you use a brighter cable at the mains, your system will have an elevated baseline. As far as body and weight, however, it seems like you could add that upstream.

Use the power cord with the truest timbre at your source. It’s impossible to correct timbre after this point.

Higher priced cords generally use higher quality materials – which generally results in better resolution, timbre, and smoothness. The sweet spot seems to be around the $1,300 mark for a high-end cable.

A power cable does sound different depending on what it’s connected to – probably due to power supply design. But if you’re comparing the same set of cords on that component – the relative differences are generally similar. Just at different degrees.

The trade-off for tonal density (body) almost always seems to be tonal color. It’ll be less “brown” and more “grey.” Which kinda sucks.

(Update 8/29/2019):A few generic power cables actually don’t sound that bad. Although most of them are harsh and fatiguing over time. Gauge seems to have some correlation here.

For example, I had this 14 AWG (Sanlung, not sure if that’s even a brand) one that came with a 2U Dell server. One thing I’d like to mention, this cable weighs more than twice the other 18 AWG standard cords.

As far as tonal color, it was truer than some of these higher-end cables. It was also quite dynamic. What it lacked were smoothness and dimension. There were “gaps” and an obvious roughness – but it was raw. Music didn’t quite really flow but was still enjoyable. And although I could listen to it for a couple of hours, anything beyond that and those edges start to become a little abrasive. Anyway, I’ll keep this cable here as my sanity checker.

Finding that balance in your system is tough – and neverending. One of the easiest ways to find synergy for a system is to try out a bunch of cables. You have to admit, it’s easier than lugging around amplifiers, DACs, and speakers. And it could be quite rewarding. You’ll start to realize – once you’ve got your cables down, it’s easier to move forward in a stereo system.

Now, onto speaker cables…

Advertise with Audio Bacon

Until now, Audio Bacon has been personally funded. I’ve quit my job to follow my passion – and have been doing this full-time for about 5 years. Writing these in-depth reviews, going to the shows, editing video & photos, and evaluating gear is what I love to do.But the costs are adding up.

I’m excited to announce I’ve finally opened up ad space on Audio Bacon. If you have something you think Audio Bacon readers will be interested in, please send your inquiries to ads@audiobacon.net.

About The Author

Mr. Audio Bacon himself. An open-minded electrical engineer and software developer by trade. I have an obsession with the enjoyment of all things media - specifically in the realm of music and film. So much heart and soul (and money) go into the creation of this artistry. My aim is to find out which products get me closer to what the musicians and directors intended.

149 Comments

CH23 on August 18, 2019 at 3:56 am

Hi Jay,

There’s a few things i find troublesome with this review:

The first being that there’s no objective measurements, and it’s all done by ear. Your brain adapts and changes constantly, so that is very subjective. you can’t actually a-b test anything as you don’t remember things exactly as they happened.

The first(and a half): you also mention that one should spend a few days with a power cable, and that it may ‘grow on you’. That should tell you enough about your own state of mind changing, and not the cable.

The second, as you say you’re an electrical engineer, what good would a power cable do, if the wiring inside your wall is still the same crappy stuff it’s always been?

That’s a nasty response for an “open minded” engineer, or is it “troublesome” as in “cannot convincingly answer”? How do you know CH23 is not an audiophile?

Instead you could address the very valid question: did you rewire your house using boutique cables? If these final 3 feet mattered then apparently the wires are a filter (an engineer would want to know that). Furthermore: any competently designed amplifier already filters out the mains crap.

I have the same question and agree that it should be addressed by someone spending huge money on the “last 3 feet”. I am a newbie audiophile and perhaps that makes me beneath a response, but it just doesn’t make sense. Your home is full of basic wire, perhaps you upgrade the outlet, but then why would that last 3 feet make a huge difference in sound quality? Again, I’m willing to take the plunge if it makes sense, but as a newbie I’d just like to understand the physics here.

I’m glad you’re not one of these Measurement Morons and are open to “hearing it out.” These guys want others to prove something to them, when they won’t even want to prove it to themselves. And these are personalities I won’t get along with in the real world anyway. Truth is, they’re spreading misinformation. I’ve lived and breathed in a world of measurements, zeros, and ones, and absolutes. One reason why I love this hobby is that it’s not so cut and dry. From where I came from – it’s refreshing and intriguing.

Like myself, I think all audiophiles start off skeptical. And that’s healthy. But, as the story goes, a few friends brought over some cables and we gave them a listen. We weren’t sure why they sounded different but they did. It’s most likely due to their balance of impedance, resistance, and inductance (LCR). RFI rejection is also a real thing which is why many (not all) of these power cables are shielded.

I also realize the sound could be altered passively. I recently wrote a review on the NCF Booster. Just place the top portion of this device onto the connectors – and it changes the sound. I’m not saying it’s always for the better, just different. I’m guessing it’s modulating the magnetic field caused by the current going through the wire which leads to skin effect, eddy currents, etc – which could change the power supply’s interaction with the analog section of the equipment. Yada, yada, that all actually makes sense.

There’s also the type of conductor used. A company called Iconoclast based all their cable designs on measurements only. But they discovered there was a different sound depending on metallurgy – even though they measured the same. These are facts from a real engineer who has done this stuff for over 35 years. I mean the all silver Crystal Cable power cord in this review surely sounds different from most of these copper variants. So the metal used in the “first 6 feet” also contributes to the sound.

Now I’m very curious about how these power cables measure to see if there are any correlations to my subjective impressions. I’ll see what I could do there.

So at this point, it should be clear that measurements won’t tell the whole story. And the story it does tell – may not be that important to an audiophile. What sounds good and engages one listener – may be far different from another. And that’s why these companies still exist. And why some are willing to pay a bit more money for a sound they enjoy.

To conclude, just borrow a few cables from the Cable Co or buy a Pangea power cord on Amazon. Give it a listen, realize how idiotic these measurement trolls are, then move on with your journey.

Jay Luong on August 19, 2019 at 2:03 pm

Oh c’mon, it doesn’t take a genius to recognize he isn’t an audiophile. ALL audiophiles with basic experience KNOW power cables COULD change the sound of a system. There are NO exceptions.

You’re obviously not one either. Don’t you guys have better things to do? Go out and make some friends! Go get laid!

Interesting way of proving your point, I believe it was Cliff Clavin who used this line of reasoning a lot in the fictitious Cheers bar? “It’s a well known fact…”

Revealing is your lack of actual answers and the absence of civility and elegance when politely asked.

In any case, it seems that an audiophile is someone who believes you at your word, is that it? Any hint of criticism brands one a heretic, fairly judged using Monty Pythons finest scientific methods of course.

Jay Luong on August 21, 2019 at 11:04 am

An audiophile understands that the most important things that gets them closer to what they want – are in the subjective. You don’t understand, because you’re inexperienced in this domain. Measurements are great for repeatability and finding problem areas. That’s it. So if equipment measures about the same – and sound very different – what is the point of following measurements when purchasing gear? For the purpose of enjoying music – very little.

Just because your chemistry professor tells you that this is an optimal composition of cocaine – doesn’t mean you (who hasn’t tried cocaine) could go into a room full of cartel leaders (who are very experienced) and ask them “politely” to prove they have the best quality. If you don’t belong here – you will be dealt with accordingly. Any criticisms, and you won’t be branded as a heretic – they’ll just, with the utmost “civility and elegance” put a hole in your head. It’s a well-known fact.

Apparently, you’re an objectivist and perhaps a narrow-minded engineer. So, what is your purpose here? Are you trying to be a hero? Are you looking for approval? What is it? Because it’s obvious – you don’t belong here.

Apekool on August 21, 2019 at 10:38 am

One more comment, and then you can ban me.

Why do you react like someone caught you with your fingers in the till? A simple and courteous retort on how you want to do your test and what methods resonate in your readership suffices.

Excluding scientific methods is disservice to the readers IMO, but being open and honest about that would be fine and probably means this site is not for me.

The basis for any subjective listening test should be thorough measurements, if only to reveal esoteric implementations like an interlink with high resistance, capacitance or reactance. Subjectively liking this despite it’s technical shortcomings is completely valid of course.

cedric ANEZ on August 21, 2019 at 11:31 am

Note to self: Never get on Jay’s bad side haha.

Although Jay’s responses could be more tempered. I could understand his perspective. He has been doing subjective-oriented reviews since the very beginning. He even mentions it in the introduction of this review and on the about page of his website. So he was upfront on the expectations.

So…you should stop acting like a victim and take responsibility for your own missteps.

Good day!

Apekool on August 21, 2019 at 12:19 pm

A much wiser man than me once said: what you post on your blog should be presentable to your mother and children. I ask a simple question and you go all Trump on me – your prerogative on your own blog of course but it shows what you’re (not) made of.

You pretend to know me and make miles of preposterous assumptions (cocaine, really?). As it happens I fully agree with you that a terribly measuring amplifier (any tube) may sound very sweet – and still I want to know the numbers so I can make an informed decision.

The cocaine ‘metaphor’ explains a lot to me about your state of mind, there’s no business like snow business right? I’ve never tried it because credible experts told me its a very bad idea, how about you?

My purpose here? I got a reference and started reading, saw your impolite non-answer and asked a question, one you have avoided to answer with as many derogative personal insults as you could muster up.

So let’s try the question again. Did you rewire your house using boutique cables? If these final 3 feet mattered then apparently the wires are a filter (an engineer would want to know that). Furthermore: any competently designed amplifier already filters out the mains crap.

Jay Luong on August 21, 2019 at 12:47 pm

Well, a “much wiser man” doesn’t really say much. I don’t pretend to know you – I don’t even WANT to know you lol. You are insignificant and only serve as a punching bag on my lunch break.

Btw, I just showed my blog to my mother and my 3-year old niece. Now, they said this in Chinese so I’m not sure if I’m translating this correctly: “You demolished that mutha fucka.”

Their words, not mine.

What part of:

As always, I’ll be focusing on subjective impressions. As to the why they sound different – I’m sure their LCR values play a part. But that’s for another day.

and

“Of course, we could talk about “the first 6 feet, skin effect, ABX testing, and magnetic fields. We could also talk about how a cable could measure the same – but sound different. But we won’t.”

don’t you understand? I guess I assumed if you can’t read, there was no point in writing a response.

Bottom line: If you want measurements to make an informed decision, you are in the wrong place. And should just walk away. If you were wiser, you would’ve known that. But you’re not – and you look like a fool.

Adam Goldberg on August 21, 2019 at 1:52 pm

That was absolutely brutal. I wouldn’t wish that assault upon my worst enemy.

Not to add salt to the wound……..but I believe that is an analogy and not a metaphor. Not to mention, a great one at that. 🙂

I think Jay’s point is crystal clear. If you care about measurements, this wasn’t the magazine for you. If you could take a look at the other comments, you’re obviously an outlier. To be honest, there aren’t many publications that perform measurements……..anyway.

By being here insisting for more “proof”- will just incite a more combative response. Like the previous poster said……don’t pretend to be a victim when you’ve just bestowed this upon yourself.

Apekool on August 21, 2019 at 1:56 pm

You’ll understand that I won’t take your word for it. I actually expected you to take a guess at my mothers’ profession, but this will do.

Fits entirely that you (allegedly and apparently) translated your biased view of my words to your mother, it’s better that she remains ignorant of the ugly truth.

Glad you think I’m your punching bag, seems everybody wins today. Only one who can swallow an insult is a man.

Jay Luong on August 21, 2019 at 2:13 pm

I don’t care if you take my word for it because you’re not even the target audience. No one here cares either. The fact you think I really told my mother about the blog shows just how clueless you really are (but, just between us, that Ryan fellow is worse).

Swallow that insult. Grow that thicker skin!

Until you’ve taken punches to the face, have a gun pulled on you, and have people spit in your face due to your race – then talk to me about being a man. You are not even close.

Apekool on August 21, 2019 at 2:55 pm

Sorry Jay, seems you misunderstood my first sentence “You’ll understand that I won’t take your word for it”. It was unkind of me pushing you over the brink and letting you expose yourself like that.

Good luck with the religion and I wish you all reach audio nirvana. Don’t take the red pill!

Jay Luong on August 21, 2019 at 3:04 pm

Religion? Red pill? Audio Nirvana? Thank YOU, for exposing yourself as a dumb-ass and making your intentions clear. You weren’t planning to be constructive. Go back to your lab and perform some measurements on cables. Then stick those cables up your ass and see if they feel the same.

Apekool on August 21, 2019 at 3:49 pm

Hmm, I was clearly and specifically reacting to your last posting, and you’ve made it very clear that my question was unwanted – what would it expose? If a power cable makes an audible difference on a well-functioning system I would very much like to know how, and context matters. Your responses are aggressively defensive and offer no explanation whatsoever, so excuse me for not being able to be constructive next to the schoolyard bully.

The logic conclusion is that you only want to believe, not know. Ignorance is bliss I guess and you’re welcome to it.

From one dumb-ass to another: since apparently you define the “true audiophile”, I think calling it a religion is quite correct.

jorg on August 21, 2019 at 4:38 pm

i am a engineer from germany. hi!!! i like more with science and the graphs and also measurements. not really big audiophile but enjoy in sound and music

very interesting paper jay. what equipment did you use???? i do hope you measure in the future

but ‘apekool’ you are a big dick. go find yourself a woman. the man was honest. in truth you are the bully. you are trying to start trouble. everyone can see!

also he feels smart and speak great points and you will always lose. you are really the dumbass hahahha. if i am you i will give up and have a beer!!!!!

jay do not let these simple people stop you. good luck!

Jay Luong on August 21, 2019 at 5:11 pm

LOL, what the…thanks, Jorg…

Steve wagner on August 21, 2019 at 5:45 pm

Talk about overkill. These measurement trolls didn’t even stand a chance.

Hi from Australia! I love your Munich coverage. You did it better than the big guys. Keep up the great work!

Antonio on August 21, 2019 at 9:40 pm

Jay, from this point onwards…I will call you the TROLL SLAYER!

Charles sans on August 22, 2019 at 11:39 am

I don’t believe power cables sound different. They either work in providing sufficient power, or they don’t. You guys are clearly delusional and I’m clearly “not an audiophile.”

But unlike Apekool, I don’t want a hole in my head. So, for that reason, I’m out.

KC on August 27, 2019 at 10:19 pm

I find it very hard to believe you are an electrical engineer. If the cable doesn’t measure better – either individually or as part of a system – then you’re just pushing BS and probably being compensated by the manufacturers.

Michael on September 9, 2019 at 9:00 am

Power cables do not change the sound. Period. Do you really believe that none of the high-end audio designers, for Mark Levinson, Krell, Classé, Bryston and so forth have never figured out that the power cord can make their creation sound better? You think those engineers have been oblivious to that for decades, and still deliver their high priced electronics with a standard power cord? Laughing out loud.

Great question. In this context, I meant uncolored. Meaning an even amount of tonal color or energy across the spectrum. Most of the time you won’t get very extended highs or lows (not always). You also won’t get that euphonic character – which emphasizes the lower midrange. There isn’t a lot of hype, rawness, warmness, brightness – just neutral.

… would be interesting to note what specific power cords are in use by the large number of ‘audiophiles’ who respond to forums…. no details – no ‘was usings’, no ‘wish I hads again’, – just a simple answer what power cord to what piece of equipment (CD, PRE, INT, POWER) is being used in present day systems…

27 is indeed an achievement as cable auditioning is not easy and gets fatiguing. Luckily I came across the Zenwave PSR-14 early in my demoing and immediately knew it was the one. So I stopped there and have no desire it hear other power cords now. What a cable.

Without measurements or even blind testing this may as well have been written in wingding font.

This isn’t a new field. There are devices that people lives depend on, devices that are critical beyond ‘being really good at organ sounds’ where testing has proven no difference beyond shielding and having enough conductive material to meet the current supply required.

Science exists to measure and prove the differences between one thing and another. The fact you ignore proven methods completely is telling.

You say you are an open minded electrical engineer. So am I, does that mean I believe anything without proof or ignore everything I was thought about physics. No.

If you stand by your findings then please prove them. Otherwise there is no findings other than random thoughts you believed you perceived.

I’m surprised the entry level HFC cables aren’t rated any better than what is written here. In your full loom review, you mentioned the Reveal series having a sense of solidity, but somehow that became a weakness here. What changed?

That’s the whole point of comparisons like these. It’s all relative. The HFC Reveal has believable tonality but does sound relatively flatter (doesn’t really layer out the music as well as others). In its own right, it’s a great cable. You just can’t have it all.

I demoed the HFC Reveal, just before receiving the PSR-14 demo cable. The Reveal is not only flatter, but had perhaps the worst bass of any cable I personally auditioned. It was wooly, one note, and off timbre. I hope their expensive power cables are far better. Their interconnects are certainly good.

Yeah, that seems to be the trade-off. I feel like the reveal has truer color than most. And as you’ve said, outside of bass, timbre is actually pretty good. But overall not as dimensionally layered. The PSR-14 is one heck of a cable – but much pricier – and I don’t believe the tone is as true (cooler) as the Reveal.

I’m using crystal cable exclusively throughout. I just upgraded to the standard power cord for my Bryston 4B3 made a big difference. It was quiet before but not everything is just clearer and more relaxed. I have crystal cable piccolo on my pre, dac, and LUMIN player. I’m very happy with the sound

No Black Sand Cable? A little surprised given they are the go to for a few folks including myself. They don’t spend the dollars on marketing and seeking out pro reviews which probably hurts then and a few others like them.

Personally, I was awestruck by the Snake River Audio Signature Cottonmouth. Right away, I knew that that was the cable for me … it’s like opening a fine bottle of wine, and pouring it in a decanter. The bouchez, flavor, color, everything just works right away. And hardly any burn-in time!

I find that it is especially good for the great post-Romantic composers, like Wagner. The Wagner Tuben now sound like they are meant to sound! Oftentimes it is difficult to tell whether recordings used French Horns instead of Wagner Tuben, but with this cable, it’s totally obvious! It’s more Wagner than Wagner.

With all the cables you’ve tried, did you not try Audio Sensibility cables? Or maybe because they can be bought directly from AS has somehow disqualified them? Many audiophiles use their cables. Probably because OCC Copper is very tough to beat.

Jay, This review is not even remotely useful. There were no tests done. You just arbitrarily told us about what you think theses cables sound like. You could have tested the differences and showed what electrical changes were between each cable but instead this article is just filled with non since.

You even contradict your self on why your not doing blind tests and then test using a inferior method that you just stated won’t give you real results because the humans are not good measuring tools.

Is this your standard answer when your methods are scrutinized? Where is the elegance and clarity in your responses? How can we take you seriously when you present zero data and react like a five-year old when asked?

I think it is safe to assume Jay did the most extensive power cable review roundup. There are a few threads & articles here & there, but none this extensive. Not even close.

There is probably a scientific method to figure out the sounds, with measurements of capacitance, inductance & resistance, but not all manufacturers publish those figures. That & the construction of the cable, but that would require cutting/opening each of the loaner cables to see the shielding, insulation, wire gauge & geometry.

The review is subjective, but they will give you an idea of how the cables are tuned.

I can also completely vouch for Jay’s review of the Shunyata cable, I had a higher end one from their previous lineup & his review was spot on to what I heard, warm, veiled & intimate.

Given the amount of hate mail I get from the trolls over the years, your comment provides encouragement, Bob. 🙂 I will admit, this survey was done to satiate my own curiosity – but I’m glad others have found it useful.

I honestly wouldn’t mind taking a more scientific approach – but as you’ve realized, it’s not a very good use of time in this hobby. I mean even the Zenwave/Furutech DPS-4 sounds different, they’re pretty much the same damn cable. Though I am very curious about measuring these cables, equipment ain’t cheap.

I can respect that you don’t have the equipment to truly measure the properties of these cables. I also understand how boring that could be and it might not feel like its worth your time.

But at that point you have to concede that you personally didn’t feel like measuring the cables and that you know it can be quantitated but you didn’t feel like doing so. Making your review unhelpful for people who would rather see charts and graphs.

We write comments here to help you write better reviews that we would like to read. Dismissing your audience as morons because you’d rather not state you’d prefer the lazy method of testing is rude and unprofessional.

First, if you’d rather see charts and graph, you ain’t in the right place anyway. We focus solely on subjective impressions…

Secondly, I didn’t say you were a moron – I just said you weren’t an audiophile. Which we both know is true. 🙂

So…I’m lazy because you “could respect” the fact I couldn’t afford the equipment to measure power cables properly – but you somehow think I wouldn’t have done it anyway based on what? Your cynicism? You also dismissed the entire review because there weren’t any charts? Damn, that’s kinda rude! Maybe you are a moron. There were plenty of constructive comments, but your comment was utterly useless. I have to keep it real. And hey…don’t dish it out, if you can’t take it. 🙂

Actually, that wouldn’t have been boring at all. If I had the equipment, I would measure them in a heartbeat. No question about it. That would’ve been really interesting as I’m pretty curious about the correlations. But yeah, the more trusted machines are over $10,000. But I’d gladly take a donation in order for you to get a more “helpful” review.

Ryan on August 19, 2019 at 4:25 pm

“I’m glad you’re not one of these Measurement Morons”

You did say I am a moron by proxy.

I said your lazy because you know there is a away to do the measurements and didn’t bother. I can respect that you’d like to, but you didn’t state that in your article. If you had I would have cut you more slack.

I was brought to the article via a google suggestion and had high hopes to find some interesting reviews on power cables only to find you listing your opinions on them nothing else. Then I read comments and find you being rude to other commenters for wanting the same thing as I did.

I felt mislead then angry about how you treated your audience.

You should probably look into getting some sponsors for new equipment to test with as it will go over better with both sides and lead to a much better review process and less stress for you. Or title your piece in a way that lets the reader know this is subjective so we don’t waste our time.

Jay Luong on August 19, 2019 at 4:52 pm

Lol, I’m not going to disagree with that now. It was clearly stated in the intro: “As always, I’ll be focusing on subjective impressions.” Not sure how much clearer I could be.

This site has and has always been based on subjective impressions. So you have to learn to manage your expectations before posting an irrelevant comment. It’s a great skill to have in life as well. The truth is, I was upfront with the review – and you rudely dismiss and insult me because you “misled” yourself.

Also, when the heck does anyone looking for “interesting power cable reviews” actually finds ones where they have been measured? The answer is: Never. So you’re obviously a fake. And I have no problems calling your ass out.

Ryan on August 20, 2019 at 11:52 am

I said in the title….

I follow a lot of hardware reviews. Its expected that the hardware was tested or measured in some way. You couldn’t bother and act like everybody should know your site doesn’t do this.

Jay Luong on August 20, 2019 at 11:56 am

Does a title like “27 Power Cable Reviews That Were Done Subjectively With No Charts or Graphs” work for you?

A couple quick things, and I apologize ahead of time if this seems too combative. Assuming you believe cables do actually make a difference, do cables with the same resistance x, inductance y, and/or capacitance z sound the same? If you believe the answer is yes, then by all means, shop by specs and I wish you all the best. If, however, you believe the answer is no, then… what exactly is your beef with the lack of “measurements”? I think you can guess which camp I’m in, and just as I believe (and have been lucky enough to experience first-hand) that cars with the same horsepower x, torque y, and very close weight z, drive/handle COMPLETELY differently, cable “measurements” have little bearing on how it actually performs in the real world. This hobby is the absolute epitome of subjective evaluation and experience, so just enjoy the journey.

Cheers!

Ryan on August 21, 2019 at 10:13 am

No I don’t actually believe they will sound differently in most cases. The sound should be the same as there are no differences in the signal coming out of the other end. There will be differences if its malfunctioning or isn’t being filtered correctly.

If there were differences in the sound you could easily demonstrate changes by recording the play back and you would see different outputs from the speaker. You would see the changes in the output. Less treble more bass and easily could show that the sound is now heavier.

Easy to test but when people do this they don’t see any differences this is why they don’t. They cant market a product as better if their proof proves them wrong.

So rather than asking me what I think have Jay prove there is a difference.

I’m just calling him out for shoddy work and being rude to his readers. There are things he could do to make this worthwhile. Testing build quality of the cable listing there features such as rated for x amount of amps and voltage. These would be helpful to both camps without resorting to sounds like x to me.

Jay Luong on August 21, 2019 at 10:30 am

Ryan, go ahead and prove it to yourself. Download this video with a chrome extension, check out the waveform, and see how they’re different. Then go hide in a corner. And please don’t be lazy 🙂

Ryan on August 21, 2019 at 2:00 pm

You didn’t start the recording in the same spot lining up these to see the differences will take a lot of work. The burden of proof fall on you and your testing methods are what we are critiquing. I can be expected to be lazy. I have nothing to prove its your article to defend not mine. Can I really trust this video you don’t even show the cables or explain your process of testing. You just expect us to believe that thats what you’ve done. (Not that I don’t believe you I’m just bringing up the point)

Jay Luong on August 21, 2019 at 2:03 pm

Stop being so lazy, Ryan! I already did the hard work. 🙂

Ryan on August 21, 2019 at 2:12 pm

I want to be lazy! Really though it’s not a good ab test as I can’t start the song at the same point with this video. I also don’t have the software necessary. But if you have free suggestions, I can try.

I enjoy and find your reviews very helpful, but this one especially resonated with me because I find cables one of the most difficult elements to shop for for. Any dealer I know only carries a couple of brands and invariably has no extras that can be borrowed (because any decent business will want to keep no or low inventory), hampering any meaningful comparison. You have to rely on the dealer’s recommendation; thankfully I use an excellent dealer, but choice is still an issue. Ultimately, I always like to hear things for myself, rather than relying on a recommendation. I recently purchased an Audience power conditioner, specifically the aR6-TSSOX and I opted for the Au24 SX power cable (based on the multiple reviews I read on the internet, all of which were very strong and I didn’t think I needed to spring for the Front Row thinking how much better can the Front Row be than the Au24 SX given the reviews). Your review of the Au24 SX was spot on in every respect, especially your comment about organ music – the organ passage on my Phantom of Opera CD knocked me out of my chair. I experienced everything you did. The power cables (and interconnects and speaker cables) on the rest of my system are all Nordost Heimdall II’s (based on a recommendation of the dealer I used before the current dealer I use). I didn’t see any Nordost cables in your review population. What do you think of the Heimdall II’s? I hope they are considered good – let me know if you think otherwise.

Again, thanks for such a thoughtful and insightful piece on a difficult and critical element of any good system.

Wow 27 cables that’s an achievement . Congrats Can you please share a link for the gear / setup on which the cables were tested on might give me a better perspective. If you could have or can add cables form transparent or nordost to the mix would be easier to gauge as they are generally easily available to try . Thanks & Reagrds

Those cables were actually more difficult to get a hold of lol. I think they’re pretty particular about who they send their cables to. lol. As for gear, it was too much to name and I didn’t write all the systems down. I’ll try to do that the next time around.

I’ll just point out that most people here don’t seem to realise or even appreciate the amount of influence the brain has on your hearing, this makes your own ears utterly unreliable in most situations for evaluating only the sound of whatever component you’re testing. There is a reason why any serious test will involve some form of blinding, in fact blinding is considered essential in medicine and for good reason; placebo is a huge factor and has been shown to affect the results of the tests.

“Measurement trolls” you mean people who don’t believe every single bit of codswallop and poppycock on the Internet? Ok sure buddy, whatever you want to think…

With so many results, can you clarify whether your comments and conclusions do or don’t take account of the price tag?

For example, from your comments, you really liked the Furutech, but seemed somewhat underwhelmed by the Shunyata – despite the latter being around 3 times the price. Does that mean that you would still favour the Furutech even if they were both identically priced?

Also, audiophile power cords tend to be very inflexible, but some aren’t (even though they look as if they should be). It would have been useful to include this practical consideration where any exanple was significantly more or less flexible than average.

You’re right. If the cable was incredibly unwieldy, I did mention that in the reviews. The only ones that were super tough were the Gutwire, Neotech, and perhaps the NRG. The rest wasn’t too bad. The Audience stuff is probably the most flexible especially given their size and performance.

If the Shunyata and the Furutech were priced the same, I would pick the Furutech every time. That’s just my preference. The Shunyata is musical in its own way, but it’s not for me.

I actually forgot many of the prices of these cables when I did my testing – only realizing what the actual price was when I was finishing up the review. It really just comes down to “flavors” and how much someone is willing to pay for that. However, generally, there’s a nice step up in performance over $1,000, but not too much over $2,000. Although I personally prefer the cheap Neotech or Vovox over many of the much pricier ones due to tonality. For me, if the tone isn’t natural – it doesn’t matter how much it costs.

Good questions. The only cable I had multiple lengths were for was the Furutech DPS-4. I believe they were only 1m to 2.5m. As far as differences in sound, I honestly couldn’t hear a significant difference with the same cables (they were all built on the same day, the same way). But was a little surprised that the ZenWave variant sounded clearly different, even at the same length, with the same connectors, and wire. I’m curious to know what they’re doing different – maybe another layer of shielding? Not sure.

I tested and wrote notes with systems with different grounding schemes and completely different electrical grids. The “character” of the cable, especially on the same type of equipment (amp, DAC, etc), had a predictable sound relative to each other. This was also with multiple listeners – not just me.

I didn’t do any measurements. But that may change in the future since I’m curious to find the correlations between the objective and subjective. Once resources permit, I’ll probably get some measurement tools in.

Jay, I want to say great reviews!! I really like how you put everything out front on what you were looking for and to the best of your ability what you wanted to get from doing all this. Don’t be bothered by people wanting numbers and specs and everything else “objectively” as that’s not all there is. Yes, it might have been great to have all that information but that’s a LOT to gather on top of everything you went through. It goes to show how much time and effort you put into all of this.

I think you hit a lot of the marks on your thinking with everything you did in the review. My friends and I did a similar “what makes a power cable” when we reviewed all the designs out there and when we made a lot of ours designs to try to find the best we could make for our systems. So we (while reviewing our own designs) did very similar experiments to see what we liked and did not like about the variety of cables we had on hand. The interesting part is on four different systems we all came into liking a style of power cable individually. I think a lot of the cables tend to do similar influences on many different systems. Not 100% the same every time…but always heading in the same direction (sometimes to the detriment of a system).

I would’ve love to get ours out to you to see what you opinions are and if they aligned with what we’ve created.

I have to admit, you quoting your own website about how you cant tell the difference between two cables in a blind test proving that a blind test is a bad test is one of the funniest things I have read all day.

If you can’t reliably tell the difference in a blind (or better yet, double blind) test, then there is, basically by definition, no practical difference.

Based on a quick A/B I can tell you that there is no meaningful difference. I also assume that you have the decency to match levels and not do anything funny regarding the video editing process.

And no, I don’t buy your bullshit of having to listen to each cable longer, because I know my limits of my auditory memory; it is utterly unreliable past a few seconds. In fact the auditory memory of most people are that unreliable so I’m not even special in that regard.

HTW on August 20, 2019 at 3:46 am

Note that this is in terms of actual sound quality btw. Regarding that, I think I can also hear noise towards the end for the “generic power cable” portion of the video. I would guess a ground loop is possibly at play due to not-so-good noise rejection from one of the interconnect cables or something, it gets especially audible towards the end.

Jay Luong on August 20, 2019 at 10:40 am

Perfect! You have good ears! Thank you for confirming you could hear a difference. That generic power cord was actually the best one selected from a pool of at least 15 – and it was “noisy” and edgy, even in person. Levels were matched every time, the only thing that changed was the power cables. So this noise that you hear, doesn’t exist with the other cables. No ground loops or any funny business.

I’ve played this video (unsighted) and had plenty of non-audiophiles describe the differences between the other cords pretty accurately – and this is a freakin’ YouTube video. Also, if you go between the generic and the Furutech DPS-4, you could clearly hear more smoothness and warmth from the DPS-4 – which is what is heard in the real world. And you don’t need golden ears or expensive speakers. Hell, I’m using $20 PC speakers.

Let me drop some knowledge on you. You said it yourself, your auditory system is unreliable past a few seconds. But when you blind test (which are usually done with quick swaps), that short term memory applies differently to different people. Just because it’s quick – doesn’t mean your brain remembers. Sometimes your brain doesn’t “adjust” on a “clean slate.” There are residual “effects” that linger depending on duration, volume, type of music, etc. Also, you can’t really evaluate transients or dynamics properly in that short of the time – which some cables are good or bad at. Sometimes it’s not even related to equipment at all – but your current mental state. This is what I meant by “your mind plays tricks on you.” And why blind tests aren’t absolute – because our brains aren’t.

I only know this from experience and conducting dozens of blind tests with other people. BUT since the purpose is to purchase gear for musical enjoyment – you have to hear a piece of gear over time – and over many familiar and unfamiliar tracks. Blind tests obviously aren’t conducive to what audiophile goals are anyway. They’re only mentioned by cynical skeptics (trolls) who like to waste other people’s time. They’re trying to “save people” from being swindled when their dumb ass won’t even bust a grape in a fruit fight. Or they’re just trying to justify not spending a little bit more money for better fidelity. That’s about it.

It’s obvious you have an interest in better sound – but you’re an inexperienced audiophile. You only live 20 minutes from The Adelphi. You have access to the largest HiFi mall in the world. David at KEF is pretty helpful. And many of those guys would be glad to blind test you on power cables. If you’re not even willing to spend the time to prove it to yourself, especially when it’s so accessible, perhaps you should STFU. I don’t need you to educate me. I’ve taken graduate courses on sound design and psychoacoustics – and even written my own audio codecs. And had that shit paid for. But instead of being a good little boy and learning everything from textbooks and the internet – I take the initiative to learn for myself. Once you’ve done the same, and realize how inexperienced you really were, I’ll forgive you for your ignorance. I just hope you’re just man enough to admit it.

Jeff on August 20, 2019 at 11:14 am

I’ve never seen anyone get OWNED so badly. Tap out HTW!

Tony on August 19, 2019 at 6:07 pm

Thanks Jay for such an extensive review. Though you mentioned cables under review maintained its characters despite change of components, it would be helpful for me to know the various components being used to evaluate these cables, especially the speakers. Thank you in advance, Tony

I actually brought them to multiple systems but primarily the LSA Signature, ATC SCM7, a few B&Ws, Audience ClairAudient, and probably 5+ more over the year. Same for amps. My goal was just to take comparative notes during each session. By the time I was aggregating everything, I’ve forgotten exactly how most of these cables sounded in each of those systems. But was somewhat surprised to see the consistencies. Sometimes the notes for different systems looked nearly the same. If a cable was dark in one system – it was relatively darker in another, etc.

Nice review Jay. For those “is there anything you can do to change the electricity in the last three feet after it has already traveled miles to your house,” there’s this: Is there anything you can do to change the flow of a river after it’s already traveled 1,000 miles to the ocean? Yes, you can dam it up and release it in a controlled, powerful flow. Power cables don’t affect the miles traveled before the current reaches your house, they affect the conditions in the local loop in your system.

I’ve been using a combination of PS Audio, Shunyata, and DIY Furutech cables (with a PS Audio Dectect noise-reduction system). Reading what Jay said about the Neotech, I got out my un-broken-in Neotech and hooked it up to the amp. Sound changed immediately. And was just what he described as the Neotech sound before break-in.

Yeah, the Neotech is an interesting cable – you have to make sure the connectors are secure and that you have as much of the cable shielded as possible (that foil is a little annoying). I still want to experiment a bit more with that cable. For the money – pretty damn good.

I bought mine ready-made from Neotech. As far as I’m concerned, UP-OCC copper is almost always a guarantee of something good. The Neotech power cable is hooked up to an old 150-watt NAD power amp, with an NAD M51 DAC as source. Speaker cables are Neotech’s NS3001, and the speakers are Buchardt Audio S300MKII. An old Shunyata Python cable seems to work very well with the M51. This nearfield “desktop” system is surprisingly solid, transparent, and realistic. I’m happy. –Mad Bill

Fantastic review Jay! This is a great article that I will be referencing for years to come. I love that all your reviews are based on listening impressions because that’s all I care about… I have read heaps of your articles and have made several purchases based on your reviews. I think you have a very good ear for it and explain what you hear well.

I was thinking you were going to use that one, as you mentioned that timbre is something you can not change after the source and this is the most accurate cable for timbre. Thanks keep up the good work!

not sure why i cant reply to Jay’s comment, so i’ll make one here instead.

in that video, I can hear noise, but it should be noted that other than noise there is no noteworthy difference between the two cables even after ext. everything else is the same, I personally cannot detect a difference in tonal balance. as for that Yanny vs Laurel video, interesting video on psychoacoustics indeed, which is why I support measurements. i do agree that blind tests are not inherently perfect, state of mind is a nuisance factor for sure. however, to suggest that a blinded test is overall less useful than uncontrolled sighted tests is dishonest; a blind test controls for many more factors than sighted tests, so it is illogical to conclude that blind tests are worse than sighted tests because blind tests have nuisance factors.

if you’re really worried about noise from ground loops, just get well-made balanced interconnects. that one I can agree with since there actually is evidence to suggest that balanced connections do work. also if your amplifier is properly designed there really isn’t any cause for worry about noise from AC power; I certainly can’t hear any form of inherent device noise from the stock PSU my DX3 comes with through HD 600s.

I’m “not an audiophile” but I was able to easily hear additional smoothness in some of those cables in that video. The generic power cable sounded very abrasive in comparison. The Danacable also sounded a little rough. The Acrolink and Furutech were obviously richer to my ears. I guess everyone hears differently! But…who the hell is crazy enough to spend $6,000 on a power cable???

i did read somewhere that speakers in terms of output impedance are quite different from headphones; generally its much lower for speakers IIRC. this can also mean if a cable has a non-flat impedance curve it might actually affect the output sound in some way if the variation is significant enough; I did see an acoustic engineer making some mention on this.

thing is though, those changes do not require some form of audio voodoo to explain; they can be explained through known electrical engineering principles. i get the sentiment regarding “we don’t know what we don’t know”, but to so quickly assume that there is an actual difference with no attempt at any kind of test controlling is just incredibly bizarre to me.

as for spending $6000 on cables, yeah its nonsense when you can get properly made and spec’d cables for cheap nowadays.

Do you really think I’m “assuming” there is a difference? What’s interesting to me is that you would think someone could listen to 27 cables (actually over 100), write varying notes on those cables, and believe he actually didn’t hear any of those changes. Worse, if you believe he would spend his own time to make it all up or is paid by the cable companies. In fact, many of these cable companies banned me so I had to find other ways to get them in.

Also, there are plenty of other reviewers and audiophiles that are hearing the same things (check the comments). Are they all crazy and part of a cult? Or are you just cynical or choosing to be ignorant? It almost always the latter. We know – because we actually tried. You don’t – because you just like to talk about what you learned from Google and how things “should be.” The interesting thing is that the skeptics (such as yourself) have the same technical knowledge on paper – but lack the experience. But for egotistic reasons – hesitant to fill that gap. Anyone could talk about slew rates, eddy currents, impedance curves, etc. It takes a more interesting person to hear for themselves before they draw conclusions. Science does have a place but to assume you know how the human brain should react to what the charts tell you – is naive.

Also, have you noticed a lot of these null tests show the same result across cables – even when the participants could clearly hear a difference? Hell, there are even headphones that measure close and sound very different. There’s just no way to measure soundstage, clarity, depth, tonal quality, or textural nuances from a graph. There’s certainly no way to measure how someone will feel about what they hear from a graph. And this is what a real audiophile cares about.

My example was Iconoclast cables. Galen Gareis is an engineer who is also an expert cable designer for more than 35 years. He’s also an audiophile – but he didn’t believe cables made a difference. If anyone has credibility – he would be it. He only focused on good materials, geometry, and measurements. Yet, he couldn’t measure or understand why the metallurgy affected the sound. Different copper sounded different in his lab – not just with him, but his colleagues. So they sell variants – but are in the middle of finding out why or how the metal changes the sound. Those are admirable engineers.

Before I reviewed their cables, I was a bit apprehensive at first. Good measurements don’t always mean good sound. In the end, their UPOCC variant ended up being my reference. It actually got me to believe in better measurements. The other conductor variants weren’t nearly as good sounding to me – but they all had similar LCR. And btw, to measure these cables “the right way” you would need almost $100,000 worth of equipment – and they had access to that. So as far as quantitative accuracy, it doesn’t get much better. And you could probably understand why it would be silly to request measurements from reviewers anyway.

I’ve had all of the Iconoclast cables in – and these differences aren’t subtle. Now, if that doesn’t convince to explore for yourself – nothing will.

My advice would be: don’t dive into the technical stuff so deeply. The goal is to get a sound YOU like. And this is coming from an electrical engineer. Once again, go to the Adelphi and actually listen. Stop babbling about shit you don’t understand. Stop being a robot, take the MRT, speak to the nice guys at the shops about cables, and listen for yourself. There are over 1,000 brands there. If you’re too stubborn or closed-minded to spend the time to do that – then why are you wasting everyone’s time here?

“And no, I don’t buy your bullshit of having to listen to each cable longer, because I know my limits of my auditory memory; it is utterly unreliable past a few seconds.”

This oft-repeated trope represents a real misunderstanding about how memory works. Longer-term memory works just fine, not by retaining a 100% accurate image in our minds–either visually or aurally–but in the way that we “characterize” to ourselves the essential points of what we see or hear. I don’t have to have photographic memory to pick out my girlfriend’s face in a crowd, or to realize that her hair style is different today, because my long-term memory is working just fine to make these distinctions. That is, I’ve memorized over time the essential features that characterize her looks, and my memory works just fine even if I haven’t seen her for a day or two. Day-to-day familiarity with your system produces the same results. When I switched from a top of the line PS Audio cable to a Neotech, I immediately heard (listening to equally familiar music of course) that the bass was both stronger and punchier. Those impressions are reliable. Immediate switching for A-B comparisons isn’t needed.

Hi Jay, you described how you listened and relistened to the power cables when changing equipment, to keep your notes consistent and account for the changes introduced by that new equipment. A year is a long time, so how did you account for room modes and speaker positioning? I assume you used the same speakers throughout as they are the main contributor to the sound color in any audio setup.

It wasn’t to keep my notes consistent but to see whether they would be. So I isolated the notes of each session to each room or new inclusion or exclusion of equipment. At the end of the year, I aggregated everything to see if there were any inconsistencies. The only major inconsistencies seem to be with the Neotech and the Atlas. They sounded different when more hours were on them. The rest kept their signature – regardless of which system they were in.

Although the type of components did change the degree of those signatures, the relative differences were the same. For example, the Crystal Cable will sound relatively more resolving than the other cables regardless of where they’re placed and the Purist Audio Design will always sound relatively more liquid. The only time it was pretty difficult to hear these differences were with digital-to-digital components (servers, clocks, etc) with linear power supplies.

I’m not saying these are facts, because there are always exceptions. But these were my own findings.

So, is it fair to summarize this to the extent that each power cable has its own sonic signature, but that signature is somewhat colored by amplifier or other component in use? Digital to digital components should actually be completely transparent, so no surprise there.

Pretty much. “It depends” but the relative differences are there. But for something like the Chord DAVE and TToby, the impact is nearly equal even though the components serve different purposes. Digital-to-digital components with switching mode power supplies could be heavily impacted by the power cord, however. So I think this is due to the LPSU (which would make sense from an isolation POV). There’s always more to learn so we’ll see if I find out anything else.

Hi Jay, Awesome job. I have much respect for you as a reviewer. Forget about the “scientists” who demand empirical data. Obviously there are differences in sound in these power cords(sometimes huge). You did a great job in reporting them.. Just curious if you heard the LessLoss C-marc power cords that have been getting great reviews. I know you can’t get to all the cords, but just wondering if you ever heard these.

Thank you, Robert. I actually did look into LessLoss last year (I remember their website). I might’ve sent in an email but didn’t receive a response. I’ll give it another look. I might have to do a round 2 lol.

First I’d like to say thanks for your review. I know personally how tiring it can be switching out components that are similar and listening for incremental differences. It’s a lot more fun to switch speakers and pontificate on the merits of each. Clearly it’s because of the high price charged for some power cables that generates the naysayers. They have a point when you look at the material costs and see what it costs to make something your self. I suspect they are not arguing that the sound is better / different but arguing the merits of value. I’m my case I’m a hobbyist, not necessarily an audiophile. I like to make that distinction because I’m a big believer in DIY. Case in point are my modernized B and W 801 matrix, (Wires, crossover, connectors, dampening , bas filters.) create a much improved speaker. I have other speakers but these were the project ones. For my cables I started by taking home some Nordost home for a trial from a dealer. They ruined my sound like squeezing everything thru a 1/2 pipe. Dealer said I needed to use all Nordost from start to finish. OK. His opinion. My search to do better than stock cables led me to some Swedes that have been doing this since 1976 and are engineers first, audio guys second. Supra cables by Jenving industries in Sweden. They promote DIY but will sell the very expensive cedar box finished set if that’s what you want. Like a lot of Swedes they don’t seem overly ambitious and market them selves poorly. The cables are superb and relatively affordable. The power plug ends are plastic and frankly cheap looking but there’s a technical reason for it and they prefer the sound of them. I haven’t been able to afford to do very much A/B testing, but I know when I compared to stock, it was night and day and I was happy with the sound. Yes I did run new wire from my fuse box on a dedicated circuit to a new wall outlet. I used Albert Porters porter ports. ( Hubbell) From there it’s all Supra. My point being aside from this brand I’m sure there are other DIY that for a fraction of the price of the boutique brands that will get you 90 percent there if not even better. Amplifier builders, in particular Rogue and Oddessy, will specifically tell you in AB testing they were unable to improve the sound where they test their amps. Take that for what you like because we don’t know the specific conditions. Both did mention to be very careful with the connectors between preamp and amp, that they are away from any power cable. Some amps that I’ve had are impervious to cable changes because of the power supplies used internally, ( Vinnie Rossi in particular will tell you he has an internal filter that puts cable chasing to bed. ) I’m not vouching for him just repeating a statement. If my budget was unlimited I’d just go to the store and buy the best of everything and not worry that I paid 5 k for a amp power cable and 45k for speakers wires. But it isn’t so I don’t. I always like to chip in with my 2 cents that if you teach yourself to solder and aren’t afraid to “pop the top” on your components really good work can be done for far less than name brand products. I do realize you in fact promoted this in a way in the article but I felt even then the price was too high and wanted to point out an alternative brand as well as the idea that through experimentation great things can be made. Cables / power supply are one of the easies places too start to affordably improve your system. Thanks again, it was a great read.

I actually had a reader send me (supposedly) the exact cable a manufacturer was using. I think it was $30 worth of materials. The cost of the cable itself was $800. When I tried to make the same cable with the wire – it didnt sound quite right. I ended up just buying the $800 cable. I’ll have to find time to revisit. It gets a little time-consuming.

Thank you for recommending Supra. Their digital cables performed better than cables many times their price. I also have a lot of their bulk Ethernet cable. Unfortunately, it didn’t cross my mind to DIY one of their power cables.

I’ve tried plenty of other DIY projects aside from the ones mentioned. But I have to be honest, they didn’t sound as good as some of the ones above $1,000. So I’ve relegated to being the diner at a restaurant and just have the chef cook something up. I’ll just have a sampling and see which fits. This also enables me to hear what’s out there so I know where each cable falls. None of them are perfect – so you probably have to pick 7/10 of the qualities you want. I wish I could have perfect tonal color with a tangible density to go along with it – but they seem to counter balance each other.

I admire your approach and philosophy. I would DIY everything – but that I will have wait until later. When I get into rabbit holes – there’s no turning back for me. And I may be lost forever!

Please let me know if there are any other DIYs you recommend. I’m always open to saving money on great sound. And you’re every bit an audiophile.

I would like to share with you my similar experience with power cables. I am the writer of a hifi blog and I Don’t do this for working but very seldon when things get to my hands. I have not an enormous experience with power cables (maybe I have heard a little less then 30 power cables) , but I think enough to get to some conclusion. Most of my conclusion are very similar to yours and this is reassuring!

•The trade-off for tonal density (body) almost always seems to be tonal color. It’ll be less “brown” and more “grey.” Which kinda sucks. – Yes, yes, and yes and this is the most frustrating aspect.

•The power cable at the mains seems to set the tone (no pun intended) and noise level of the system. If you use a brighter cable at the mains, your system will have an elevated baseline. As far as body and weight, however, it seems like you could add that upstream – I found the same thing out but were very skeptical on my findings since I have thought that putting the cable I generally like the best in this same position would have the greater effect since it was leading the power to the others. I generally prefer in this place the cable that is more “raw” and dynamically unrestricted. But the most important thing is as you said is that in this position it sets the tone for the others.

The most disturbing things that sometimes I encounter are:

sometimes, but when it happens it is evident, on only digital source like cd transport the bite, on the attack of the notes.

And the most mesterious to me: cables connected to a gear, like a cd player, effect the sound of the system even if you are listening to anouther source, like your turntable. if all the sources are powered on at the same time. I have tried this many times and I still prefer to think is not true but…

Sometimes, for a lot of work or for a coup de chance you can end up prefering a combination of your not best preferred cable then your preferred ones. For example I Always tended to dismiss the wireworld silver elektra 7 founding it as a Strange cable, but in a combination of other cables can work great, better then in an all wireworld contest where the resulting sound is too “religious”.

keep up with your work, and I hope many hifi manufacturs will realize that your space is a great one to be in!

Wow, very insightful! I’m finding the gray vs brown thing is also applicable to speaker cables. I wonder if that could be measured. You can’t have it all! Sadly.

Your comment about the mains solidifies yourself as the “real deal.” You must’ve spent a lot of time. I think the preservation of “essence” is far greater when you use a raw and dynamic cable at the mains. This doesn’t mean it’ll be tonally warm or have heavy bass but those could be layered on afterward. For that reason, I’m gravitating towards the HFC CT-1U and Snake River Cottonmouth Signature.

As for your observation with different cables affecting the sound of a different source – that is absolutely true. I found this out when I was testing Ethernet cables. I figured using local files played on a server wouldn’t be affected by the Ethernet cable (connected to the server) – but it did. So I couldn’t use the local files played off a hard drive as a control or reference point. Although music wasn’t streamed to the music server, it still changed the sound! Annoying, but that’s how it is. So the impact of a single cable could have pretty huge consequences on how someone feels about their HiFi – which is why I’m doing this in the first place.

Wireworld stuff tends to be very bright. Although I could see how you could incorporate them somehow. Meh. Yeah, it’s really about experimentation. Putting all of the “Finest Cuts” power cables in a system might not be the best balance lol. Every cable offers something different and will probably sound better depending on how you want to balance it. And yeah, the cables you don’t favor the most, may end up being the best for a specific component. Very true.

Thank you for your encouragement, Max. It’s nice to know someone who’s just as curious 🙂 If you have suggestions for speaker cables, let me know. I’ve already started on the next one 😉

Jay, great write up! I think your reviewing style is the best on the ‘net. I know it takes a lot of time to put these together. Sorry for the OT, but I have a question about the Chord Qutest. I thought I read somewhere which input you thought sounded best on the Qutest, but now I can’t find it. Did you prefer the usb, optical or coax?

TBH, I don’t remember, it has been a while since I’ve plugged it in. My gut says USB. But if you don’t have a Hugo M Scaler, the USB is a safe choice just from its flexibility of source files. If you’re unsure and want to spend more on cables, try out cheap monoprice ones on both, and whichever input sounds better, stick to that one and buy a better cable.

I would like to add something about Wireworld cables. I was once of your same side saying they were bright but now, after some repeated experience, I cannot affirm the same thing. I think that when we built a system that suits to our taste, we balance with components that actually don’t fit well togheter since the cables that are connecting them are the something that put us in the wrong path. So to balance some umbalanced thing we umbalance in the other way, and this is understandable. But at the end with this kind of system we end up to some strange conclusion when we change some components. When I assemble a system that is perfectly balanced, that is not bright with all Wireworld cables things are different. First of all I have to say when we use all wireworld cables we have to put the “best” cables on the most front end and following this path if we have less quality cable. The same with power cables. When I say an all wireworld cable system I say ALL cabled with. So at thie end when I have all wireworld cables and find components that match togheter in a way that it does not sound bright, when I chang other components or other cables things are mutch more predictable. When this happen I never find a silver cable too bright or a copper cable too warm, and cheap cables don’t become unlistenable but are even enough cable. At the end I like an all wireworld cabled system but I don’t love it,since for my taste is too mutch controlled and educated and well manered, but it is mutch easier for me when I find components that works well togheter with all wireworld cabled system to suit my emotions and taste just altering one or two components or one or two cables. At the end I ended up to the concusion that Wireworld cables are the less, or one of the less, present cables in the market. I am not an advocate of the less, since when we record something we loose some small but absolutely essetial thing in the musical path that can be reinvented only by coloration in the reproducing system. If we don’t reinvent what we have lost the result is good, clean but with no soul! The same thing I can say for Cardas of which cables, taken in their own , I have always felt lacking in rawness or something else. The Wireworld is more like distilled water, (no life is possible there if you don’t add by something else, like a component or other cables) and Cardas is a little bit like butter. After many years my profund respect for these two company has grown a lot. I have to say they havve understood somthing.

“If you have suggestions for speaker cables, let me know. I’ve already started on the next one”. For me you are the indisputed king of cable reviewers, and I think in my 40 years of being in this hobby, also for 20 years as professional selling and distributing, I guess I have listened at the most to 60% of cables you have! For loudspeaker cables…strange beasts. They are not so “fun” to listen to as other cables, even though you can clear ear the difference, but they tend to miss less essentials then other cables. Same differences less missing essentials….strange.. . I don’t add more, waiting you to put the right words for it, which generally you do mutch better then other reviewers. all my best max

I completely agree as I’ve heard very good systems wired with mostly Wireworld. I guess I’m referring mostly to their digital cables. But I’ll have to revisit.

You’re pretty spot on with Cardas. It’s buttery, smooth, liquid, almost this gloss or glaze over the sound. I’m just generalizing but that’s the impression I got when listening to their cables.

40 years is a long time! (bow down) I’m starting to get a few speaker cables in, maybe 27 in total within a few months 😉 I’ll also include some DIY. We’ll see. This time I’ll write notes while keeping track of the amp and speakers used. Wonder what stays consistent – and what doesn’t.

Wondering if you have had a chance to listen to Signal Cables? Great bang for the buck, although priced much lower than what you have reviewed. I found a huge difference over the stock PCs and am curious how close they may come to some of these PCs. I was leaning towards Audio Archon cables but sounds like I should consider the Neotech as well.

Also, when you do the speaker wire evaluation, it would be very interesting to see how the Duelund DCA12GA and WE 10 gauge compare to the higher priced alternatives.

It’s funny how people like yourself try to tie this stuff to a cult or religion. FWIW, I’m an atheist. I believe things I’ve experience which includes what I can see, smell, touch, taste, and hear. Not what some old scriptures are telling me. If religion helps you in a positive way, great. This is just the way I approach life personally.

There’s a difference between someone who is a “follower” and someone who just has an open-mind, experience, and common sense (aka a human being). As you could probably see from the comments, many of these guys are engineers/objectivists – but admit they haven’t tried for themselves and are open to being wrong. Those guys – I respect. They have a personality I could work with. Not due to a belief or an agreement. They’re just more sensible (and intelligent) human beings.

People like yourself – who already call BS on something they won’t try because they think they know it all – are people I wouldn’t get along with anyway. You don’t even have an interest in this hobby – yet make the time to comment on something you have no real-world experience with. That’s, by definition, called “Talking out of your ass.”

So what does that say about you, Bob? Do you often bullshit people? Are you trying to be superman? Who exactly are you trying to save? Are you looking for validation? Dig deep, Bob – because no one’s asking or looking for your help.

So, stop being a follower. Spend your time more wisely, and go out there and make some friends.

I have listened and made a lot of power,speaker and interconnects. I’m an old engineer and was supprised the first time I heard a Nordost Valhalla. It can be quite contextual. Some cables can make a good AV receiver sound excellent. The Vallhalla power cables don’t mix well with other cables. I have also re wired an oppo or two, besides clock mods,etc. It’s a real ear opener.

Funny that doctors, lawyers, software creators, business owners, financial people, all sorts of tech people, in short people who make a lot of money, live and die by numbers, spend their money on this unmeasured nonsense. Maybe those people listen and make judgments based on what they hear. Or they automatically succumb to the placebo effect around audiophile products.

Jay, great review. Impressive effort taking on 27 cables but I do like these large comparative reviews. i usually find at least one item I have had experience of, which gives me a reference from which i can imagine how the other items would perform in my system – no guarantees of course but a reasonable basis for considering cables I will not find it easy to get on home loan.

Just to touch on a couple of the brands mentioned. Although I’ve had no experience of the Shunyata Sigma NR your description comes close to my experience with the previous generation Alpha HC and the current generation Alpha NR, both of which I own. One thing to note is that these three cables are all filtered. I also own an unfiltered Alpha EF (C19), which I connect my Shunyata Venom UK6 distribution block to the wall socket with, and I have had on loan an Alpha EF C15. The EF cables are more raw and attention grabbing than the NR cables, and there is certainly less softness. As I manage to remove more noise from my system I can see myself migrating to the EF cables, that is if I stay with Shunyata.

The other brand is Audioquest. I’ve not heard the Hurricane HC but I did have on loan a Hurricane Source power cable, which I found to work very well with the Innuos Zenith SE that i had at the time. I would be interested to learn from anyone who has been able to try both HC and Source variants of the Hurricane whether there was much difference with different types of device.

I’ll have to hear their EF cables. But as you’ve heard, the Sigma NR seems to have the house sound of the Alpha NC and NR (which I’ve also heard).

I personally would go for the Kimber Kable PK10 over the Audioquest at around the same price point. I’m using the Snake River Audio Cottonmouth Signature on the Innuos right now – and it sounds superb. Keep me posted!

What puzzles me is your choice of length. 4ft power cable is a waste of money as it doesn’t quite do what it is supposed to do. 6ft is a golden standard and it’s not just a random number. Tried and proven many times by many people. Same thing with short interconnects and speaker cables – they sound way worse. I’ve compared a few identical cables , the only difference was their length ( 0.5 m ICs to 1.5m ones and 4ft speaker cables to 10 ft ones ). The difference was very noticeable, with shorter cables sounding harsher and just … Kind of primitive??